I'm not sure if anyone else caught this, or even if it's a big deal. Condoleeza Rice's appearance on Sunday's "Face the Nation" produced what sounded to me like a funny quote. Host Bob Schieffer was grilling Rice on her stance on the immigration debate suddenly raging in the U.S. He was pressing Dr. Rice on the question of whether or not the National Anthem should be able to be sung in Spanish. After some artful dodging of the question, Schieffer tried again.
Schieffer: Does it make any difference or not?
Rice: What, what, what language the national anthem is...
Schieffer: What language it's sung in?
Rice: ...is sung in? I've heard the national anthem done in rap versions, country versions, classical versions.
I'm sorry?
Did I hear right? Does Dr. Rice think music genres are somehow equivalent to languages? Of course not! This ridiculous response sums up this whole stupid debate.
Really. It's the 21st century, we're fighting a losing war in Iraq, our economy is shit, and we're arguing over whether people should be allowed to sing the national anthem in a different language (a language spoken by nearly half the actual population of the United States)?
Debates like this are what destabilize our country. They are beside the point, simplistic, and loaded with rancorous sentiment that is easily explosive. It would be nice for one of our leaders to stand up and re-frame the immigration issue along more important lines. Rice correctly pointed out on Sunday (repeatedly), that immigration was an important issue facing Americans now, and into the future. So why aren't we taking it more seriously?
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